best concerts (rock, musical, performer, Detroit)

[Drover]

Originally Posted by lisak64

Iggy Pop - I think the Rivera Theater - Chicago - late 70's
Afghan Whigs - Tipitina's - New Orleans
The Pixies - Aragon Ballroom - a few years back on their reunion tour
Yes - Chicago Auditorium - early 80's
Stone Temple Pilots - Rivera Theater - uh....2002 ish
Joe Jackson - late 80's (name of the venue escapes me...now defunct outdoor venue that was in Hoffman Estates)
Sonic Youth - Aragon 1990
Goran Bregovic - Millennium Park 2006
Area 2 - Midwest Ampitheater - 2002
David Bowie - Aragon Ballroom - 1997
New Order - mid 80's

I went to one of the Pixies' Aragon shows, and it was awful. It was so loud and the sound engineering was so awful that you couldn't make out any actual "music" from the noise, even with earplugs. I was so mad, I wanted my 80 bucks back.

The defunct venue in Hoffman was Poplar Creek.

[McGowdog]

1. American Tour 1981, George Thorogood, Heart, The Rolling Stones; Folsom Field, Boulder Colorado.

2. The Dead, Bob Dylan, and Tom Petty; 1986 RFK Stadium.

3. Deep Purple, 1985, McNichols Arena. Just 2 straight hours of solid rock! I was far from straight myself!

4. Iron Maiden, right up there with AC/DC and Judas Priest, and yes KISS (good special effects for sure).

5. The Kinks at Red Rocks. What was funny here is how Joan Jett got booed off the stage after about 2 1/2 songs.

6. Eric Clapton (Phil Collins playing drums).

7. 38 Special, ZZ Top, Journey, Eddie Money, Dio, Aerosmith, blah blah blah. What was funny about Journey and some of these other bands is how they always had like Brian Adams as the warm-up band. I must have seen this ornament about 15 times!

8. Allman Brothers, Red Rocks! A lot of lost Dead and Phish fans there too!

A couple others that I don't remember too well.

[unknown stuntman]

Better than Ezra: more than just the music, these guys really put on a good show for its' audience.

[BoydS]

Ok, the question asked was "best concerts" not what concerts you have been to. Since the 1st concert that I attended in the late 60's until today, there are only a few that I would consider "best concerts". Listed in order.

Moody Blues (Arena in St Louis 1972)
Stevie Wonder (Keil St Louis 1972)
Jethro Tull (right after Aqualung release)
The Band (Chuck Berrys Farm 1973?)
David Allen Coe (Deer Park, Tx 199?)

There were many others and great bands, but this is just my impression of their concert performance. As the old saying goes, "if you remember the 70's ... you weren't there.

Originally posted by DOUBLE H
One of my all time favorites was the '72 Rolling Stones tour. Stevie Wonder was the warmup act.

I actually saw the Stones on that tour in St Louis and IMO they were not that great. Stevie Wonder put on a much better performance.

[DOUBLE H]

Oh well, those things happen! Still, the Stones rocked ! The bous of that shoe was Stvie finally getting some exposure and what eventually cranked out Talking Book and Innervisions that next spring of '73. Three days before the concert I had seen Led Zeppelin and one week after I saw Jethro Tull. The Tull show was bizarre at first: they came out all dressed in black, with trenchcoats and giant tophats. Weird. That cavern of a venue for the 3 shows was the Denver Colisseum, site of the still current National Western Stock Show. My ears were ringing for days afterward!

[Chinolala]

Originally Posted by Drover

I went to one of the Pixies' Aragon shows, and it was awful. It was so loud and the sound engineering was so awful that you couldn't make out any actual "music" from the noise, even with earplugs. I was so mad, I wanted my 80 bucks back.

The defunct venue in Hoffman was Poplar Creek.

I missed seeing the Pixies the first time around back in the 80's so I was out of my mind with excitement to see them at the Aragon. I guess I didn't even notice the poor sound engineering. Poplar Creek! That's it. I couldn't recall the name of that place to save my life.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by lisak64

I missed seeing the Pixies the first time around back in the 80's so I was out of my mind with excitement to see them at the Aragon. I guess I didn't even notice the poor sound engineering. Poplar Creek! That's it. I couldn't recall the name of that place to save my life.

It could be that the sound mix was better the night you went versus the night I went. (They played 5 shows at their last Aragon appearance). All I know is that the show I saw, I couldn't tell if they were singing "Bone Machine" or torturing livestock onstage.

[LINCOLNSHIRE]

I saw a tribute band on Sat night,,Edged In Blue,,,not for the first time,,They are excellant..They do Rory Gallagher covers and are great at what they do..Having seen the Man himself on several occasions,,71 until his untimely death, I would advice a listen..Only prob is , only available over here..

[Sage of Sagle]

U2 (Joshua Tree Tour). For being a mega-concert, the connection with the audience was awesome. And they had improved leaps and bounds since the War tour, and better than the Unforgettable Fire tour.

Adam Ant at the Coach House (SJC, CA). Tiny venue, incredible energy.

Peter Gabriel (shortly after the So album IIRC). Most robust and well done stage show I've ever seen. Shaking the Tree and Biko were particularly well done, with the African children's choir.

[woxyroxme]

I have seen Yes 22 times over the last 28 years and the one performance that really stood out was the Union tour of 1991, 8 members playing together in the round with Jon Anderson on vocals, Chris Squire on bass, Steve Howe & Trevor Rabin on guitar, Rick Wakeman & Tony Kaye on keyboards, Bill Bruford & Alan White on drums. The pleasant surprise was the inclusion of Awaken (from the album Going For The One) on their set list.